


Find Your Found Family

by Lululeigh



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Family, Family Bonding, Gen, Hide and Seek, Pre-Fire Emblem Fates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24191815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lululeigh/pseuds/Lululeigh
Summary: “We’re playing hide-n-seek and you’re ‘it’! Count to thirty and then come find us! Come on Flora and Lilith!”Gunter was shocked, the flurry of movement catching him off guard. He had not even been given the chance to decline. “No running in the halls milady! Children!” he chided them, though his words were ignored as they raced down the corridor together. He sighed, placing his hand over his eyes as he began to count in a booming voice as he tried to remember the last time he had participated in this game.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	Find Your Found Family

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fan fiction for [Kith & Kin](https://twitter.com/HyphenZines), a Fire Emblem Families zine! 
> 
> Thank you to [thislittlekumquat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thislittlekumquat) for being my beta reader for this project and also crying with me over how cute I wrote Gunter! 
> 
> And a big thank you to [Sleepy_Grandma_Phyllis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleepy_Grandma_Phyllis) for helping me with the ending for this piece! Your idea completed this fan fiction perfectly!

“I’m bored!” sighed Corrin as she flopped down onto one of the cushioned chairs in the tea room. Outdoor training had been cancelled for the day as a result of bad weather which left the young Nohrian princess to aimlessly wander up and down the corridors of the fortress in search of amusement. The girl was practically bouncing with energy and most activities were not able to keep her attention for long.

“What about the books the crown prince brought from the castle?” remarked Jakob, following his liege into the room.

“I already finished them! I wish he would bring me new ones, or that my siblings were all here to play with me…”

“I’m sorry milady. I’m sure they would like to be here with you as well,” reassured Lilith.

“How about a puzzle?” Felicia was there by her side too, peeking over the chair’s arm by standing on her tiptoes.

“We could play a game,” suggested Flora from her spot on the opposite chair. “Though cards become boring after a while…”

“Oh, I know! Let’s play hide-n-seek! Sister Elise was telling me all about it!”

“What’s hide-n-seek?” asked Lilith, though Corrin could tell that the other children were curious as well.

“It’s fun! One person is ‘it’ and counts while everyone else hides! And then the person who counted has to find everyone else! If everyone is found the person who counted wins! But if they can’t find everyone we win!”

“Can we hide wherever we want?” asked Jakob.

“Why not!” replied Corrin. “Though maybe let’s stay inside today because of the rain.”

“Who will be ‘it’ for us?” Felicia questioned.

“Hmm… Well, it can’t be any of us…” Corrin pondered as she tapped her index finger on her chin. Singling out one person there in the room to be ‘it’ certainly wasn’t fair after all.

“Milady? Children? Taking a break are we?”

“Gunter!” Corrin beamed, the perfect opportunity arriving. “Will you play a game with us?”

The middle-aged knight chuckled, unsurprised by the request. “Have you finished your studies for the day, milady?”

“Yes! I finished  _ hours  _ ago!”

“Jakob, Flora, Felicia and Lilith, have the chores for the day been completed?”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Well, I don’t see why we couldn’t play a ga—”

“Perfect!” Corrin cut her retainer off mid-sentence, jumping down from her seat and grabbing Jakob and Felicia’s hands before bolting for the door. 

“We’re playing hide-n-seek and you’re ‘it’! Count to thirty and then come find us! Come on Flora and Lilith!”

Gunter was shocked, the flurry of movement catching him off guard. He had not even been given the chance to decline. “No running in the halls milady! Children!” he chided them, though his words were ignored as they raced down the corridor together. He sighed, placing his hand over his eyes as he began to count in a booming voice as he tried to remember the last time he had participated in this game. Was it not long before he left to join the army?  _ No _ , a memory which pained him too greatly told him that he had played this game a few years ago before he was stationed here at the Northern Fortress.

“Twenty-eight… Twenty-nine… Thirty!” Gunter bellowed, hoping that the children would hear him through the stone walls. It was unusual for the fortress to be this silent during the day, and the knight was realizing how much he relied on the children’s echoing voices to locate them in the massive structure. He could not hear a peep nor a giggle; the only clear sounds now were the metallic steps of his armoured boots as he began searching up and down the corridor and the rain pounding against the windows that he passed. It seemed logical to check the obvious hiding spots first.

The first place he checked was the kitchen. With its many cupboards, there was bound to be someone hiding in there. He began his search, opening every door and checking behind the large stew pots to make certain no one was hiding in the very back. He was roughly halfway through the cupboards when he received his first hint: a small muffled sneeze a few doors down from where he currently knelt. His searching must have stirred up the dust in the air. He recognized the blue twin tails immediately as he opened the suspecting door.

“Does this mean I lose?” Flora wore a sad expression as she crawled out of the cupboard, taking a moment to brush off the dirt and dust that had accumulated on her uniform. Gunter could tell she was a bit disappointed and offered his hand to her.

“Not quite. Now you have the special job of helping me track down the others. Shall we?”

Flora nodded, following him out of the kitchen and helping him check the next few rooms. Finding Felicia was relatively easy as well, seeing as she forgot that her shoes were peeking out from behind the curtains that adorned the large windows of the dining room. She was happy to also be designated a helper with her sister and together they helped the knight find Lilith, who was hiding in one of the fortress’ many closets.

“So now there are just two people left?” asked Lilith as the group made their way down an unchecked corridor. Gunter had decided to check the library next; while it was one of the biggest rooms of the fortress, it had a limited number of hiding spaces. At least, that is what he thought. The knight certainly did not expect to nearly have a heart attack upon seeing the butler in-training sitting atop the tall bookshelves.

“Jakob! Consider yourself found. I advise you to climb down from there this instant.”

“Be careful Jakob!” The three children cautioned.

“You can’t reach me up here, so I’m not out yet!”

“Last I remember this was a game of hide-n-seek and  _ not _ tag,” grumbled the knight. Of course one of the children was going to give him trouble. He ordered the children to keep an eye on Jakob as he went to fetch a step stool from the nearest closet so that he could retrieve the bugger from his hiding spot. With some quick thinking and the other children blocking Jakob’s escape, Gunter had finally managed to declare him as part of their team.

“I was so close to winning,” sulked Jakob as the group climbed the spiral staircase up to the princess’ room.

“We’ll have to play again sometime!” cheered Felicia.

“That will require us to find Corrin first,” replied Gunter as he knocked on the young lady’s door—as per habit—before opening it. “She seems to be quite skilled at this game.”

The group worked together to search her room, careful to not let any spot go unchecked. Corrin was still short enough that she could hide just about anywhere with little difficulty. 

“Not in here!” confirmed Felicia as she opened the wooden chest at the end of the princess’ bed.

“Jakob, I thought you two hid together?” Flora inquired as she checked under the bed.

“We did,” Jakob was busy remaking the bed after having pulled the blankets and pillows off of it, “but then she decided to run and hide somewhere else.”

“She’s not in here!” shouted Lilith from the closet.

“We’ve checked just about every room and obvious hiding spot in this fortress,” Gunter sighed, having exhausted the list in his head of all the places the princess might be hiding. It was now growing later into the evening and as he glimpsed out the window to the setting sun, he realized that mealtime would soon be upon them.

“Why don’t you all make your way back to the dining room and help the other servants prepare for supper. Knowing Corrin, I’m sure she’ll leave her hiding spot when she grows hungry enough.”

Off the children went, descending the stairs as the knight stayed back for a moment to finish tidying the room. He could not believe that he was not able to find his liege and he wondered if she would ever be so dedicated to her training as she was with this game. Confident that the smell of food would lure her out from wherever she hid, he returned to the main level, only to hear a chorus of shrieking from the children which came from the other end of the corridor. He grew concerned and quickened his pace, meeting a scared Flora and distraught Felicia along the way.

“Gunter, Gunter!! Help us!!”

“What is it? Are we under attack?”

“N-no, it’s a—” Flora began.

“There’s a ghost at the entrance!” Felicia frantically finished.

“A ghost? Surely you must be mistaken. What would ever make you think that?”

“Follow us!” Felicia and Flora each grabbed one of his hands—he winced, as they were cold to the touch—and ran along with him down the corridor until they reached the entrance to the fortress. Standing on either side of the large wooden door were decorative suits of armour and in front of one stood Jakob and Lilith, wearing frightful expressions as the group approached.

“Children, care to explain to me what’s going on?”

“That one! It’s haunted!” cried Lilith, running to the knight for protection as she pointed to one of the suits of armour.

“Haunted? That’s not possible.”

“Listen! Someone must have died wearing it!” wailed Jakob as he joined the other children as they cowered together behind the knight. Gunter hushed their worried murmurs so he could listen, deciding to humour them and this unthinkable idea. He heard nothing as he stood there, ready to send the children on their way and forget that this entire incident ever happened. However, just as he was about to speak, he heard it: a soft high-pitched wail followed by the metallic clinking of the armour moving. He could not believe his ears, but as he listened a bit closer a sinking thought dawned on the knight.

“Dragons above, do not tell me…” Gunter surged forward and began to dismantle the suit of armour, starting with the helmet and moving next to the arms. The children shrieked from where they stood, some watching from between the gaps in their fingers as they waited for the ghost to reveal itself. Despite their most terrifying thoughts, no ghost appeared; just a very frazzled Corrin that was covered in dirt, cobwebs, and grease.

“You found me!” the young lady cheered, her main attention still given to the game. “Does this mean I win?”

“You win—” Gunter reached down to pull her out of the armour before she toppled over on herself, “—a bath, immediately.”

“Aww, I hate baths!” grumbled Corrin.

Gunter frowned, continuing, “We will then have supper and talk about the dangers of hiding in suits of armour. If all that is completed,  _ and _ the weather clears, perhaps we can go watch the stars from the top of the tower. Understood, everyone?”

_ “Yes sir!” _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I think a lot about the Northern Fortress Family so being a part of this project and creating this fan fiction was an absolute delight! I also didn't know this until I started writing this fanfic, but M!Corrin actually talks about playing hide-n-seek in his support with Kiragi!


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